Feb. 22, 2017
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Freshman Maria Auth (Street, Md.) registered her first career hat trick to help lead seventh-ranked Penn State past Duquesne, 19-9, this afternoon in non-conference women's lacrosse action from Rooney Field.
Duquense (0-1) opened the scoring as Jill Vacanti found the back of the net just 1:04 into the game before the Nittany Lions (4-0) used a 10-2 run including six straight goals from the 20:47 mark to the 10:32 mark for the 10-3 lead.
Senior Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.) collected five goals during this stretch including three straight in just a four-minute span from 14:33 to 10:32. Sophomore Madison Carter (Davidsonville, Md.) added two goals during this spurt while classmate Kelly Daggett (Bainbridge, Pa.) and freshman Kristin Roberto (Miller Place, N.Y.) and Auth collected the others.
Vacanti registered the final goal of the first half at the 2:56 mark before tipping the hat trick to open the second half with a score at 28:11 for the 10-5 score.
Daggett came right back for Penn State with a tally at 26:25 and just 19 seconds later junior Katie O'Donnell (West Chester, Pa.) registered her first of the contest for the 12-5 edge. Carter then added back-to-back scores and after another Vacanti tally, it was junior Maggie Gallagher (Bel Air, Md.) with two goals in just 57 seconds to hit running time at 16:54 with the 16-6 lead.
Auth then potted her second of the game at the 14:59 mark and sophomore Kayla Brisolari (Crofton, Md.) added a score of her own at 9:29 before the Dukes scored three in-a-row to stop running time at the 1:38 mark. However, just 22 seconds later Auth secured her first career hat trick for the 19-9 final.
Senior Cat Rainone (Newtown Square, Pa.) stopped five shots to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Penn State held the 35-19 advantage in shots including the 29-14 edge on target while also controlling the draw (20-10) and going 17-for-19 on clears. The Dukes held the slim 16-14 edge in ground balls and the 13-12 margin in caused turnovers.
Carter paced the squad with five draws while Gallagher collected four. Senior Natalie Schmitt (Malvern, Pa.) was solid on defense all afternoon causing a game-high four turnovers and collecting three ground balls.
The Nittany Lions return to action as they look for their best start in 24 years when they travel to Cornell for a 1 p.m. affair on Saturday.